The present invention generally relates to the aging or damage of hair, nails, tissues, organs and cells and, more particularly, to the rejuvenation of hair, nails, tissues, cells, and organs by improving the deformability and diffusion coefficient of hair, nails, tissues, cells, and organs in humans and animals (including companion animals and live stock).
Various changes in the biomechanical and other functional properties of hair may occur with aging and diseases. Undesirable changes may include deterioration in manageability, including decreased stability and brittle hair. Typically, these detrimental changes may be due to: (a) physically or chemically damaged hair; (b) physiologically aged hair; and/or (c) diseased hair (e.g. hair of diabetics). Hair may be physically damaged from the normal grooming process of shampooing, combing, drying (e.g. hot air blow drying), and/or brushing. In addition to this physical damage of hair, hair may also be damaged by chemical action such as by exposure to sunlight and contact with water containing chemically reactive agents such as oxidizers (e.g bleaching and/or dyeing of hair). Also, the repeated use of permanent waving compositions on the hair fibers may cause damage to the hair especially if not used according to directions. Bleached hair is often characterized as being dry, brittle, and overly coarse. Finally, with the aging process, hair may become dry, brittle and overly coarse.
For nails, deterioration in the biomechanical and other functional properties may also result in undesirable nail problems. Conventionally, the term “nail” has meant the horny cutaneous plate on the dorsal surface of the distal end of a finger or toe, or the corresponding appendages in animals. Specifically, in humans, the hardness and strength of the nails is particularly important not only for the beauty of their appearance, but for the well-being of the individual. Embrittlement of the nails is normally associated with aging. However, various activities also expose nails to a number of materials which may adversely affect the nail's biomechanical and other functional properties. For example, occupational exposure to extensive or constant wetting of the hands with soaps, detergents, solvents, chemical hair waving and coloring lotions, and insults from deliberate cosmetic applications, such as manicuring, or any like products can lead to drying, brittleness, cracking, laminating, splitting, ridging and similar damage. Additionally, certain diseases may also lead to nail embrittlement or associated disfigurement owing to weakening of nail hardness and strength. Moreover, the appearance of fingernails and toenails of humans are frequently enhanced with decorative nail-care cosmetics, such as nail polishes, nail polish removers, nail polish bases, alkaline cuticle removers and the like. Overuse of these products can alter the nail, causing it to weaken, soften, split and break.
With respect to tissues, cells and organs, transplantation of these materials has become a routine means of treating certain diseases and other conditions. Transplantation requires a ready source of organs, such as kidney, pancreas, liver, heart, etc., from living persons or cadavers. Conventionally, most vital organs, cells and tissues, which are used for transplantation, are obtained from heart beating cadavers and preserved for variable periods of time prior to their transplantation. However, preservation methods merely attempt to maintain the present condition of the organ, cell or tissue. For this reason, the majority of organs, cells and tissues that are used for transplantation presently come from younger individuals who typically have tissues, cells and organs that have not been detrimentally affected by age or disease.
In contrast, because of the aging process or disease, older individuals have a deterioration in the biomechanical (e.g. deformability) and other functional properties of their cells, tissues and organs. For this reason, decreased deformability is associated with impaired tissue or organ functionality in itself, as optimal biomechanical function is demonstrated at deformability levels measured in young individuals and diminishes with progressively decreasing levels of deformability. Thus, at the present time, older individuals typically can not be candidates for organ, tissue or cell donation because preservation solutions merely attempt to preserve the present condition of the organ, cell or tissue.
Conventionally, two typical methods of preserving organs, cells and tissues for transplantation are continuous pulsatile perfusion and simple hypothermic storage in a preservation solution. In pulsatile perfusion, the organ is subjected to pulsatile flow of a perfusate under hypothermic conditions such that the organ membranes receive sufficient oxygenation. Typically, the perfusate contains albumin and lipids. With simple hypothermic storage, organs are removed from a cadaver donor and rapidly cooled. Rapid cooling is achieved by external cooling and by perfusion with a preservation solution to lower the internal temperature of the organ. The organ is then stored immersed in the preservation solution at temperatures of about 0°-4° C. Two conventional glucose preservation flush solutions are the Collins (G. M. Collins, The Lancet, 1969, 1219-1222) and the Euro-Collins (J. P. Squifflet et al, Transplant. Proc., 1981, 13:693-696) solutions. These solutions resemble intracellular fluid and contain glucose as an osmotic agent. Despite their widespread use, the Collins and Euro-Collins preservation solutions do not typically provide adequate preservation for storage times greater than about 48 hours. For example, kidneys stored in Collins solution for 24 hours may exhibit considerable damage to the nephrons. This damage included degradation of cells lining the proximal tubules, extensive swelling and rupturing of cells lining the ascending distal tubules, degeneration of glomerular epithelial and endothelial cells and accumulation of flocculent cytoplasmic debris in the capsular spaces of Bowman. (P. M. Andrews et al, Lab. Invest., 1982, 46:100-120). In addition to glucose flush solutions, high osmolality preservation solutions have been prepared using raffinose and lactobionate as in the UW preservation solution (R. J. Ploeg et al, Transplant. Proc., 1988, 20 (suppl 1) 1:935-938), mannitol in the Sacks solution (S. A. Sacks, The Lancet, 1973, 1:1024-1028), sucrose in the Transplantation, 1989, 47:767-771) and the histidine buffered HTK solution of Bretschneider (N. M. Kallerhoff et al, Transplantation, 1985, 39:485-489). Other examples are solutions that contain synthetic hydroxyethyl starch (HES) as an osmotic colloid.